


Ambush

by SuperStitious18



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 13:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19006411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperStitious18/pseuds/SuperStitious18
Summary: When Nora got home after morning brunch with Ava and Mona, the first thing that she noticed was that the house was quiet.Too quiet.Entirely too quiet.





	Ambush

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to my friends for reasing and encouraging me while I wrote this.
> 
> A big thank you to @WardenRoot for beta-ing this for me!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

When Nora got home after morning brunch with Ava and Mona, the first thing that she noticed was that the house was quiet.

Too quiet.

Entirely too quiet for four teenagers to be at home during summer break. Entirely too quiet for  _ her  _ four teenagers to be home during summer break. Entirely too quiet for her kids to be home alone, they were usually  _ much _ more noisy than this. Something had to be wrong and that did not settle well with Nora, she'd be damned if any harm came to her kids.

Nora glanced around, attempting to scope her immediate surroundings for any signs that something terrible was waiting for her. She hoped not. She really didn’t want to have to fight anyone after the good morning that she had had with her friends and the way it started in bed with her husband. 

Plus, she didn’t want to explain to Ray why the carpet was singed and the furniture was a mess. Again.

The living room checked out immediately. No one was there, nor were there any signs of a struggle. Everything was in place there and in the kitchen as well. The uneasy feeling grew the longer she searched through the first floor of the house. Usually she could find one of them, any one of them in the library but it was eerily empty.

What if they just went out and didn’t tell her or Ray? That didn’t make sense at all. They were honest kids and Nicole was too damn thoughtful to stress her parents out like this. Hell, all of them were like that. Ray and Nora made sure to instill in their kids a sense of freedom and responsibility since they were young.

“Nicole? Are you all home?” Nora called out tentatively, worrying even further when she got no response. “Adam? Nathaniel? Avery?” She called out for the rest of the kids, hoping she’d have better luck than she was getting. 

“Ray?” Maybe her husband was home? Although if he  _ was _ , he wouldn’t be leaving her all nervous and jumpy as if there would be a battle around the corner. There had been too much that had happened in her lifetime, too much death and destruction, too much grief and pain in her memories. He knew better than to leave her unsure and afraid. 

Her hands started glowing their signature purple, the dread that had settled in the pit of her stomach grew as she crept up the stairs. The air crackled around her, a sign that she was pretty charged up and ready to fight. Especially if her family was in danger, she would not tolerate anyone who thought to harm them.

She immediately went on the defensive when she heard a loud shouting and heavy footsteps coming towards her. Nora turned on her heel and seized whoever was charging at her in a rather harmless stasis. 

Which had been a good thing when she got a good look at  _ who  _ she had trapped.

Immediately all the thoughts, worries and concerns of what could have happened to her kids flew out the window as she had one of her sons, Adam in the field. “Adam Carson Palmer! What the hell?” She admonished him, looking at him incredulously. Nora looked over him, checking him for any physical injuries and making sure he had all his limbs. He looked okay but the mom override made her concerned about  _ why _ he'd been yelling. For all she knew, he had been running from an attacker.

But then why on  _ earth _ was he holding a nerf gun?

“Oh! Hey mom!” He grinned, looking almost exactly like his father when he did that. “Sorry, thought you were Nicky! We’re all having a nerf war!” She could tell how excited he was with how he was practically vibrating and he was certainly eager to get back to his battle. The image of him in a glowing purple field, looking at her, all happy and innocent melted away all the stress she had just experienced. 

“You heard me calling you, right?” Nora asked, putting him back down on the ground and enjoying the tight hug she got from her eldest son. Also, when in the  _ hell  _ did he get so tall? Wasn’t it just yesterday she was holding him in her arms as a newborn? Who gave him the right to be taller than her? It was most definitely his father’s genes.

Excellent genes if she wanted to go down that route. 

“Are you gonna help me find the others?” Adam asked, looking down at her curiously and certainly not answering her question. She dismissed it for now but she was going to give them a small earful later for scaring her so badly.

Nora debated it for a moment. She could team up with Adam and look for her other children, getting revenge on them for giving her a near heart attack. That would be a fun and harmless way to let loose. 

Or… 

A wicked grin spread across her face as a new plan came to mind on how she could get back at them. Harmless, fun and certainly sufficient. “Sure. You got another one of those lying around that I can borrow? Unless you just want me to throw nerf darts at your siblings with my magic.”

Adam made a face like that was a GREAT idea but then thought better of it. He ducked in his room and brought her a nerf gun with a few extra clips of “ammo”. She stashed the extra clips in her coat pocket, she hadn't bothered taking it off when she got home. What with having been too worried about her hellions to care at the time. Now, it had apparently been a good tactical decision as it allowed her to sneak extra nerf darts when Adam wasn’t looking.

They snuck through the house together, keeping their senses sharp for any sign of movement or life. The best thing about Adam having Nora on his side was that she knew all the Palmer kids the best and knew  _ exactly _ what would give them away. She also knew their probable hiding spots. 

“I swept downstairs, no one’s down there unless Aves is in the wardrobe again. You check for Nate in the bathroom. I’ll check for Nicole in my closet. Then we’ll look for Avery, he’s been spending too much time with Aunt Sara and Aunt Nyssa.” Nora kept her voice low in case any of her other children could hear her. Though they had no reason to suspect she was home, giving her the perfect opportunity to ambush all of them later.

Adam snickered at that, causing Nora to roll her eyes as they both caught the irony in that statement. “Yeah, but mom, Nicky’s been out of the closet for  _ years. _ ” He accepted the punch to his bicep with grace, still cackling quietly over his pun. “Meet in the living room?” 

Nora only nodded before slinking off to her bedroom, prepared to duck and cover behind her bed just in case her magic had been right. She had lightly sussed out the perimeter after Adam revealed himself to be in a nerf gun war with his siblings, easily figuring out where all of them had been hiding. In hindsight, she should have done that when she got home, but she'd been more concerned with making sure her kids were okay versus being practical.

This was so much more fun anyways. A low stakes, high rewards type of situation where no one would get hurt.

Her attention was brought back to the present when she heard a rustle followed by a sharp intake of breath come from inside her closet. She grinned at that, Nicole was definitely hiding in there. Nora was glad that she wasn't out of touch with her eldest's less than brilliant moments. 

Nora made various noises as she entered the room, knocking against wood, rustling fabric, and generally alerting her daughter to her presence as she crept along. The goal was to spook her into running straight out of the closet and into the living room. That would give her the best chance at getting all her hellions in one room, where she'd proceed at darting them as much as possible in her own ambush.

Her plan worked as Nicole burst out of the dresser, running straight past Nora's hiding spot and out in the hallway. She yelled something on her way out the door, either about ghosts or how Nate wasn't being funny by scaring her again. Nora laughed quietly at that. Her brave 18 year old, potential police recruit. Scared of the boogeyman. She was fully prepared to wonder where the years went, how she had four teens, one of whom was an "adult" now. The years have been good, she had amazing kids and an even more amazing husband. 

There she was. Thinking about it even when she said she wasn't going to. Nora laughed briefly before moving from her hiding spot so she could track down where her kids went.

"Then who the hel- heck was in the bedroom??" Nicole said, sounding worried from Nora's vantage point. The almost swear amused her for a moment, Nicole had been known to do it but she usually tried to censor herself around her little brothers and her father.

“I don’t know, you came out of there like you were being chased!” Avery sounded worried, glancing around their immediate surroundings as if he could tell what was happening.

Nora saw the light bulb go off in Adam’s head as he came to the realization of what was going down and she made her move. She opened fire with the nerf gun Adam gave her, easily dodging any return fire and abusing her powers to throw more darts at them. Her children tried to take cover from her onslaught of foam and rubber but it was futile as she had the higher ground.

“It’s a trap!” Nathaniel squealed, ever the opportunist for a Star Wars reference even as he was getting smacked about the head and shoulders with darts.

The tell tale click that signalled Nora was out of ammo came sooner than she expected but she knew it had been inevitable with the rate she ran through it. So, she threw down her toy weapon and held her hands up in surrender. She wanted to laugh at the looks on their faces but she had to stay focused. They were plotting something, of course they were because while they all may be nice and sunshine like Ray, they were also  _ her _ kids. Nora knew they would get revenge but she had no idea what.

Though soon it was very clear what the four of them intended to do. They all dropped their nerf guns and charged her, not giving her anytime at all to dodge the incoming bodies. Soon she was on the floor, her children pinning her under their combined weight. Now, she could easily toss them off with her magic, but she didn't really want to. Not with how they were all giggling and with various comments they made about keeping her down.

"You can't dart us anymore!" Nathaniel cackled, obviously delighted despite being squished between his brothers and sister on top of his mother.

"You okay, mom?" Nicole asked. As always, one of the most amazing things about Nicole was that she was concerned with how everyone was. If she wasn't careful, she'd be exactly like her father, wanting to save everyone and believing only the best in people.

Nora was in the middle of laughing, giving a thumbs up despite her arms being pinned down underneath her body. She was truly having a great time and not much could top this moment.

Then the front door opened.

It felt like time was moving in slow motion as they all looked up and found Ray standing in front of them. He was gawking at them, incredulous and almost unable to understand just what the  _ hell _ his wife and teenage children were doing in a dogpile on the floor. He spied all the nerf guns and darts littering the floor, the way the couch apparently had been used as a barricade judging by the sheer amount of foam bullets covering it. 

"What…." Ray started, still staring at his family on the ground. "Why…. Why are you-? I don't even know where to start." He held a stern face after taking in the damage surrounding them. "I would say what would your mother say but…." Saying that had caused him to start cracking up until he devolved in a loud, full bellied laugh.

Ray took a picture of them like that, all of them cheesing for the camera before he started helping the kids up off of his wife. He shared a secretive smile with Nora after giving her a hand up, leaving her to wonder exactly what he was planning.

“Alright, I trust that you all will clean up as it is evident that this whole nerf war started before your mother got home from brunch.” There were various looks of guilt from the four in front of them, only furthering Nora’s amusement. Adam gave them a thumbs up and a promise that they’d pick up everything before he came over to hug Ray. “Happy to see you too, buddy. You’ll have to tell me how your project is going after lunch.” Nicole, Avery, and Nathaniel followed in hugging Ray, greeting him and getting their own in return.

Then they all swarmed Nora in a group hug, surprising her with the sudden bout of affection. “Thanks for having a nerf war with us, mom!” Nicole beamed, her dimples showing with how happy she was and constricting Nora’s heart just a little bit. She would never get over the fact that the little 5 year old girl that had been in her father’s arms was this young woman now who called her mom and loved her to the moon and back.

“Anytime.” Everyone was gracious enough to ignore the way her voice cracked with the emotions she was feeling. 

The kids dispersed, set on cleaning up the mess they all made before their parents got home, and Nora followed her husband to the kitchen. Even roughly 13 years later, she still got a kick out of thinking that Ray Palmer was her husband now instead of just her boyfriend. Not that that wasn’t a great time in her life, but she found that she much preferred being married and being able to say she was Mrs. Palmer.

Once they were in the kitchen, Nora really started to notice the small aches and pains from being tackled by her teenagers. She used to be a lot better at this but she supposed that was because the kids weren’t her size or larger in terms of height and weight. When did Avery and Nathaniel start to catch up to her so fast? When did Adam get so  _ big? _ Nicole too?

“Are you okay?” Ray’s voice and gentle touch broke her out of her thoughts of getting old. Looking at him and being with him made her feel less terrified of aging because he was growing old with her. She never thought that she’d get here, married, a mother, and watching as her hair slowly turned gray. She wasn’t even really that old but she had a stressful start to life and her young adult years were even more stressful than she really thought about sometimes. 

“I’m okay.” She leaned into his hands, enjoying the way they cradled her face ever so gently. "Just realizing I'm getting old. Which isn't a bad thing, I'm kind of pleased by it if I'm being honest." Nora placed her palms on the back of his hands, holding onto him.

"And why is that?" he asked, looking genuinely curious as to what her answer may be.

"Because if I have to grow old with someone, I'm glad it's you." Nora pushed herself closer, wanting to touch him more fully. She clasped her hands behind his neck, absentmindedly playing with the short hairs she found there. He put his own hands on her waist and held her even closer.

"I'm glad I get to grow old with you too, Nora. I love you more than anything, you know that right?"

"Hmmm. Except for the kids."

"That's a different type of love. I don't love them less, just… differently than I do you. I have too much love to give, you know that." His eyes crinkled as his smile grew almost too big for his face. Her heart fluttered at just how handsome he was and she was extremely glad this feeling hadn't gone away after 14 years. 

"I'm well aware of your capacity to love, Mr. Palmer." 

His expression turned teasing. "Are you now, Mrs. Palmer?"

She matched his grin before making use of where her hands were and pulled him down into a soft, sweet kiss. "Hmmm. I'd say so. You did take a chance on a demon possessed woman who kidnapped you, tortured your friends, and caused chaos in general throughout the timeline."

"I knew that wasn't you. Deep down, without Mallus, I knew you were a good person. You still  _ are _ a good person. A wonderful friend. A fantastic mother. An amazing wife. You are the love of my life and everyday I'm in awe that I get to wake up next to you." 

Nora had to blink back tears that sprang up suddenly at his soulful declarations. Stupid, lovable softie that he was, making her cry because of the nice things he said to her. Instead of responding, she buried her face into his chest and effectively ended their conversation. She knew he'd understand, he always did.

Ray, as expected, didn't press her to talk anymore. He instead started humming softly, knowing she enjoyed the way his voice rumbled in his chest under her ear. They swayed back and forth, perfectly in sync with each other as they believed, well, knew that the other was their perfect match. 

What they  _ didn't _ know, was that their kids were at the entrance of the kitchen, watching their parents be madly and deeply in love. Nicole snuck a picture of them the next time they pulled back to smile at each other. She showed her brothers, all of them enjoying how happy they were, no matter if anyone could see them or not. They were more than happy that their parents were some of the lucky ones, mutual love, trust and respect that ran deeper than anyone could ever possibly know.

The picture was developed and gifted to Ray and Nora for their anniversary. Two of the same picture in two different frames for them both to take to their offices. Placed where every time they looked at it, they'd remember the struggles they went through together and all the happy times that led them to that one, perfect moment in their lives with their children as their witnesses.

And all was well.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought or come yell at me on tumblr @superstitious19!


End file.
